Effect of Ghrelin on Rat Aortic Endothelial Cells Apoptosis Induced by Palmitate

Aim To investigate whether ghrelin could inhibit apoptosis induced by palmiate in rat aortic endothelial cells.Methods Rat aortic endothelial cells were cultured in 0.3 mmol/L palmitate for 24 h with or without ghrelin.Cell viability was assessed by MTT assay.Apoptosis was detected using hoechst 33258 and annexin V-FITC/PI double staining assay.Spectrofluorometer assay was used to detect caspase-3 activity.Western Blot analysis was used to examine the expression of Bcl-2 and Bax.Results Exposure of cells to palmitate decreased cell viability.Palmitate increased cells apoptosis to 30.03%(P0.01) compared with the control group(5.01%).Palmitate increased caspase-3 activity and decreased the Bcl-2/Bax ratio.While ghrelin dose dependently increased cell viability.10 nmol/L was the minimum effective level.100 nmol/L was the most significant level.Ghrelin inhibited palmitate-induced apoptosis rate to 10.03% in endothelial cells(P0.05) compared with the palmitate group.Ghrelin decreased caspase-3 activity and increased the Bcl-2/Bax ratio at the same time.Conclusions Ghrelin inhibits palmitate-induced apoptosis.Ghrelin may be a protective factor against palmitate-induced endothelial injury.